Vehicle occupant restraint belt retractors have heretofore been provided with an inertia responsive pendulum or the like for moving a lockbar into engagement with a toothed ratchet plate attached to the belt reel so that the occupant is restrained in the seat. The locking engagement between the lockbar and the ratchet plate teeth is effectively maintained for as long as a load is imposed on the belt even though inertia stimulus is terminated. When the load is removed from the belt, a slight belt rewinding rotation by the windup spring permits gravity to disengage the lockbar from the ratchet plate.
It is known to use the aforedescribed seat belt retractor in a seat belt system of the type having one end of the belt connected to the vehicle door so that the belt will be automatically moved to an unrestraining position when the door is opened and return to the restraining position about the occupant when the door is closed. It has been recognized as desirable to provide a buckle in the belt so that the belt can be disconnected to permit opening of the door. In the alternative, it has been recognized as desirable to provide a handle or the like which is manually operable to forcibly disengage the lockbar from the ratchet plate so that the belt may be unwound from the reel to permit opening movement of the door. Copending patent application, Ser. No. 044,753, Bernard J. Finn et al, filed June 1, 1979, is an example of such a retractor.